VACCINES CONTAINING RECOMBINANT PILIN AGAINST NEISSERIA GONORRHOEAE OR NEISSERIA MENINGITIDIS

摘要

The pil E genes of each of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Neisseria meningitidis are cloned and their corresponding recombinant pilin proteins are expressed. In addition, a chimeric pil E gene is constructed in which the region of the pil E gene of Neisseria meningitidis class I encoding the amino-terminal region of the pilin protein is replaced by the corresponding region of the pil E gene of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The recombinant meningococcal chimeric class I pilin protein is expressed at higher levels than the pilin protein expressed by the full-length pil E gene of Neisseria meningitidis. Furthermore, a chimeric pil E gene is constructed in which the region of the pil E gene of Neisseria meningitidis class II encoding the carboxy-terminal region of the pilin protein is replaced by the corresponding region of the pil E gene of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The recombinant pilin proteins are used in vaccines to protect against disease caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae or Neisseria meningitidis.